Rototiller Built From Old Hay Conditioner

Rototiller Built From Old Hay Conditioner HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Miscellaneous 17-5-8 Old hay conditioners can be converted into low-cost garden rototillers, says a New York farmer who made a 42-in. wide, 3-pt. rototiller out of an old 8-ft. pto-driven hay conditioner. "It works as good as any commercial rototiller and cost only about $20 to build," says John Davies. "Commercial rototillers of comparable size cost about $1,200. It digs 6 to 7 inches deep and works so well I even do tilling for neighbors." To make the main rototiller shaft, Davies cut the conditioner roller down to 42 in. and welded a sprocket on one end that's chain-driven by a driveshaft above the tiller housing. The conditioner roller was equipped with 1/2 by 1-in. flat steel bars welded onto evenly-spaced discs along the shaft. Davies cut the bars off the discs and welded four L-shaped tines onto each disc. He made tines out of 1-ft. long leaf springs salvaged from an old Willys jeep. The hay conditioner gearbox and a short length of driveshaft mount on top of the tiller housing. Davies used a short pto shaft from an old Woods mower and lengths of flat iron to make a 3-pt. hitch. Contact FARM SHOW Followup, John Davies, 9192 Hardys Corners Road, Cuba, N.Y. 14727 (ph 716 437-5315).

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